Book-It Heads North for Border Songs

A small Washington town on the Canadian border becomes a hotbed of illegal immigration, drug smuggling and forest art. In the middle of it all is Border Patrol Agent Brandon Vanderkool (Patrick Allcorn). Brandon Forrest Gumps his way through life on the border, making the biggest arrests while creating natural art and counting bird calls.

In fact, the story is pretty much Forrest Gump if he lived on a farm in northern Washington. Brandon is described as dyslexic but is mentally slow, socially awkward and has a habit of being in the right place at the right time. Madeline (Helen Harvester) is his Jenny. The childhood friend he pines for from the other side of the border and the only one who understand him. The story is complete with an understanding and ailing mother.

Despite the fact that it feels like I have seen all this before, it is still a good night out. Book It really does know how to make a book come alive. Anyone can put on a play that was written as a play, but deconstructing a book and putting it on stage while maintaining the aspects that make the book complete must be a challenge.

A book has narration that is not spoken by any of the characters, narration that is important to the scene. Book It manages to capture that with surprisingly few props. Jim Gall and Rachel Glass toss lines back and forth so well to illustrate the scene that you can almost see the cow on the ground they are tending to.

The Border Songs storyline is formulaic and predictable. There is some minor language and adult situations, but it is limited and all in context so not to be too inappropriate. There are some entertaining parts and it is fun to see what the cast can do with it. Border Songs runs through Oct. 9.